Chapter 281 - 279: Petty Cleverness

Chapter 281: Chapter 279: Petty Cleverness

"Your second uncle?"

Lin Qiao also turned to look in Gu Lihuang’s direction and immediately spotted the group of people not far away. She didn’t know Gu Nuan Nuan’s second uncle, but she did recognize someone from her village among them. She froze, a strange expression on her face. "Is your second uncle with that tall, skinny guy in the gray clothes?"

A group of a dozen or so people walking together was quite conspicuous. The man Lin Qiao pointed out was, in fact, one of the brothers from her village who worked at the Zhang Group—the very one she had specifically mentioned to Gu Nuan Nuan when she’d passed his family’s house at noon. ’Does Gu Nuan Nuan’s second uncle also work at the Zhang Group?’ she wondered.

"That’s right." Gu Nuan Nuan nodded, seeming to understand Lin Qiao’s confusion with just a glance. "My second uncle works at the Zhang Group, too." A strange expression flickered across her face. "Those people with him are probably his colleagues who have the day off and were invited to hang out. Is the man you mentioned one of those brothers?"

"Yes, his family’s surname is Ye. I don’t know his full name, but I know he’s the third son, so everyone in the village calls him Ye Laosan," Lin Qiao said, a bit gloomily. "I saw him when my family was having the worst fights with our neighbors. He did say his uncle and aunt were in the wrong and tried to talk some sense into them, but it was completely useless."

"Don’t worry," Gu Nuan Nuan said comfortingly. "Since they’re relatives, and he can clearly see his relatives are in the wrong, I’m sure he’ll try to persuade them to change their nasty habits in the future."

"Heh, I used to think that too, but then I realized things in this world are never that simple. Haven’t you heard the saying, ’a leopard can’t change its spots’?" Lin Qiao laughed. Her eyes and expression seemed to say, ’So you’re just as naive as I used to be.’

Gu Nuan Nuan didn’t reply, simply offering a smile. That smile made Lin Qiao blink, and she suddenly couldn’t help but feel that what Gu Nuan Nuan had said was the actual truth.

At that moment, as Gu Nuan Nuan waved, Gu Lihuang’s companions all turned to look toward her and Lin Qiao. Several of them, who were usually boisterous and had no filter, grinned and whistled. One of them, a young man named Qian Jun, was the first to clap him on the shoulder, a roguish grin on his face as he teased him, "Hey, I say, Huang, aren’t you from Liuyun Town? Where’d you get such a pretty little niece here in the city?"

"No kidding, she’s a real looker. Even from this far away, you can tell the little lady is so fresh she could be dripping with dew. Huang, your little bro here is still single. Why don’t you introduce us later? We can start by just getting to know each other. If we really hit it off, you can bet I’ll treat you to that matchmaker’s thank-you drink." As soon as Qian Jun finished, another man named Chen Geng chimed in. He affectionately slung an arm around Gu Lihuang’s shoulders in a buddy-buddy way and waggled his eyebrows.

The moment he finished speaking, everyone burst out laughing with a ROAR. Amidst the boisterous laughter, others took advantage of the chaos to shout out, "You’re not the only bachelor here, Chen Geng! What gives you the right to jump the line?"

"Yeah, Chen, didn’t you say your family already found you a match and you were about to treat us to a wedding banquet? Why are you out here competing with us bachelors now?" The speaker was a nineteen-year-old named Chen Yisheng, who had just graduated from high school and hadn’t been with the motor pool for long.

His words were immediately met with a barrage of teasing from the others. One said, "Hey, little bro, have you even hit puberty yet and you’re already thinking about getting a wife?" Someone immediately retorted, "Nineteen isn’t that young! Back in the day, my grandpa had already given birth to my eldest uncle by that age." This drew another round of laughter. "Your grandpa’s pretty amazing! How come I’ve never heard of a man giving birth on his own?"

"Can’t you understand what I’m saying? Obviously, my grandma was the one who gave birth," the speaker retorted angrily.

"HAHAHA..." The crowd roared with laughter.

Chen Laosan laughed along for a bit, then shook his head. "Come on, you guys. How old do you think that little girl is? Her friend next to her is the top female student from our village, and she goes to the best school in the city, City No. 1 Middle School. She’s only in her teens. They’re probably classmates, so their ages can’t be that different. They’re a long way from being old enough to marry. You should all tone it down a bit. Don’t be stunned when you actually tease them until they cry."

"It’s just a few jokes. That little girl looks pretty poised and confident. You think she can’t take a little teasing?" Qian Jun, who had spoken up first, said dismissively.

Gu Lihuang, listening from the side, found it more and more unbearable. He knew that when these guys really started "joking," even married women would blush and keep their distance. So, with a rare scowl, he spoke to the group sternly, "I’d advise you not to make those kinds of jokes about my niece. Don’t say I didn’t warn you, but she has quite a temper. Don’t get yourselves into an embarrassing situation you can’t get out of. Hmph—even if she were a few years older, I doubt any of you would be worthy of her. Is there any point in making jokes like this? Don’t wait until you’ve really pissed her off. If she goes home and so much as frowns, heheh, you guys will be in for a world of trouble."

His words caused an uproar. The majority were unconvinced, and it showed on all their faces.

"Come on, Huang, that’s not right of you. Is your niece made of gold or something? What do you mean none of us are good enough for her? And we can’t even make a few jokes?"

The one who spoke was Chen Yisheng. Although he was the youngest and least experienced of the group, and had only been there for a very short time, everyone rumored that he had powerful backing—a family member working at the Zhang Group headquarters. And that wasn’t all. The rumor was that this relative was a trusted confidant of President Zhang Wei Qiang himself, a "figure" who had the boss’s ear at any time...

In reality, this so-called relative was just one of Chen Yisheng’s older male cousins, one of the many inconspicuous junior assistants around Zhang Wei Qiang. But how could anyone else know the details so clearly? And Chen Yisheng certainly wasn’t about to clarify things for them. In fact, most of the vague, misleading rumors floating around the motor pool had been started by him.

His method was simple. He would intentionally-yet-casually drop a few misleading remarks in crowded places. Then, from time to time, he would leak information that was already known to upper management but hadn’t yet trickled down to the lower ranks. Over time, everyone naturally developed the false impression that the rumors about him were true.

Relying on such petty cleverness, Chen Yisheng quickly became a popular figure in the motor pool. Not only the regular employees, but even the team leaders and deputies were willing to suck up to him and give him special treatment. Gradually, he inevitably grew conceited, seeing himself as a cut above the rest.